Donald Trump’s childhood home has sold for nearly $2 million after a renovation transformed the New York residence from a moldy cat cave into a modern home.
The president lived at the Tudor-style estate in Queens until he was four years old. His father, developer Fred Trump, built the house in 1940 in the affluent Jamaica Estates neighborhood. The family hasn’t owned it for years.
The sale price, $1.93 million, was posted on real estate websites Friday after a buyer, whose name was not disclosed, entered into contract in July.
The seller, Tommy Lin, bought the five-bedroom, three-bathroom home last year for $835,000 after it sat empty and neglected for years.
Lin, a developer, spent another $500,000 on an eight-month interior renovation that added amenities like a chef’s kitchen, herringbone wood floors and spa-style bathrooms. reported the New York Post.
The home has changed hands several times in recent years, including for $2.14 million months after Trump took office in 2017. according to Zillow.
The buyer was a company called Trump Birth Home LLC and the home was briefly listed for rent Airbnbcomplete with copies of a life-size cardboard cutout of Trump, copies of his book “The Art of the Deal,” and a framed cover of People magazine featuring Trump.
It was offered for sale again in 2019 with an asking price of $2.9 millionbut remained unsold until Lin snapped it up.
Meanwhile, the Post reported, the house fell into disrepair, there was water damage and mold from a burst pipe, and a colony of feral cats settled where Trump spent his earliest years.
The now 80-year-old president got rich in real estate – he built his eponymous Trump Tower in Manhattan and lived there for decades – before parlaying his fame and fortune into politics.
As president, he oversees his own residential renovation: adding a massive ballroom to the White House and decking out the Oval Office with the gilded furnishings that are a hallmark of his properties and aesthetic.